WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is growing increasingly frustrated with the refusal of five NATO (news - web sites) members, particularly Germany, to allow their military officers assigned to alliance bases to be deployed in Iraq (news - web sites), a senior US official said.
NATO agreed this week to set up a training mission for the Iraqi military in what the official called a "significant" sign of progress since US-led invasion splintered the alliance last year, but Washington fears Berlin's position may erode newfound fragile unity, the official said.
Germany, along with fellow antiwar NATO members Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Spain, went along with the decision to set up the Baghdad training mission but have refused to permit their officers stationed at NATO's two operations bases to participate, the official said.
"Frankly, a number of us have been surprised by this," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity at the State Department, suggesting that the position smacked of obstinateness and a refusal to fully support the interim Iraqi government in its time of need.
The official noted pointedly that the five had supported the creation of the training mission and had professed to want to help stabilize postwar Iraq despite rancorous differences over the war and said their decision to "opt-out" their NATO-seconded officers was unprecedented.
"I believe this is the first time this kind of thing has happened," the official said.
The official said no one expected Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg or Spain to contribute troops from their own national armies to the training mission, which will send about 400 allied officers to train senior Iraqi commanders and 1,100 to 1,200 soldiers to protect the operation.
But, he said, the United States and others had been stunned when the five, led by Germany, refused to allow their officers who are now stationed at alliance bases in Mons, Belgium and Norfolk, Virginia to participate in the program.
"These are NATO officers under NATO command and they should follow orders from NATO commanders," the official said.
On Wednesday in Brussels, NATO ambassadors adopted without debate an "operation plan" for the Iraq mission which foresees the dispatch of military instructors under heavy guard.
But officials said NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was furious by the refusal of some members to allow their officers to participate and sources said that Germany in particular was holding out against letting its NATO staff officers take part.
"For this caveat ... to spread would be corrosive for the solidarity of the alliance. It is something the secretary general will resist," one official said.
A "heated exchange" occurred between the US and German representatives during the ambassadors' meeting, according to one source. The senior US official denied that account but made clear that Washington and its allies in NATO's governing board were not pleased.
"We think they should make the decision to be present in Iraq and we have made that clear," the official said.
Despite the row, the official said the training mission would not be affected by the refusal of the five to participate and the United States is pleased that NATO appeared to be moving in the right direction on Iraq.
Wednesday's approval for the training mission "is the first time that NATO has been able to agree on anything collectively on Iraq for the past two years," the official said. "It is significant that we were able to get consensus on any issue related to Iraq."
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli praised NATO's approval of the training mission as an "important signal of Euro-Atlantic consensus" and declined to discuss the controversy in detail but made clear the United States was unhappy with the situation.
"We don't necessarily agree with it, but it's their decision," he said.
